Re:CREATORS – 06

「いのち短し恋せよ乙女 You are the one who knows where justice lies.」 (Inochi Mijikashi Koiseyo Otome)
“Young Girls, Life is Short so Fall in Love You are the one who knows where justice lies.”

Good things come to those who wait. It might be a common saying, but sometimes the words hold true. After drowning us with over four weeks of exposition, Re:Creators has finally—finally—responded with our first big fight of the season. Well ok, almost. The show has not entirely abandoned its problematic ways, but the taste of carnage is definitely here as the last of the cast is revealed and the season’s first twists make themselves known.

Those who have followed the discussion these past few weeks know Re:Creators’ biggest fault has been its storytelling. Excessive infodumps and over-usage of Meteora were divisive to say the least, and no matter one’s opinion on the matter, it’s hard denying the existence of better methods. I found it incredibly funny how this episode almost reverted to the same: Meteora shows up, starts preaching, and damn near sucks the air out of the room. Well, until the grizzled Blitz Tokar (great name) appears and literally puts her in her place. Combine Meteora’s physical weakness with Alice(taria)’s philosophical shutdown and suddenly Meteora isn’t as all-powerful as originally apparent. I really hope this isn’t a one off and that Meteora requires the assistance of others to simply survive because it resolves the majority of issues I have with her character. The girl might have all the answers and received front heavy attention, but what good is it if she cannot win when words fail? Besides sidelining the mage, it gives Celestia—who can stand toe to toe with the best—needed screen time and better delineates our protagonists’ roles. If Re:Creators keeps this up, the previous episodes become more of an annoying speedbump than defining feature.

The real surprise for me, however, was in future developments. The turncoat potential is now a reality as both Alice and Mamika—surprise—flirt with the possibility. Alice is not openly in rebellion yet, but her stubborn refutation of Meteora has the red flags waving tall for me because she has set herself up for a serious fall. Meteora-isms aside, the girl and our fantastically crazy, shark toothed Magane—yes, that’s her actual name—is right that Alice is inherently selfish, and just a little naïve. She is obsessively concerned with correcting perceived wrongs to such a degree that other issues—and experiences—are secondary. Gunpuku’s strategy works for Alice because it has to work, there’s no other way and anyone stating otherwise must be lying. It’s desperation under the guise of justice, and when Alice discovers the truth it will hit her hard. Likewise Mamika’s choice here is similar, the girl is desperate to retain her idyllic worldview and loathe to accept the dirtiness of real life. She cannot understand (yet) that change always requires sacrifice, which in part promoted her impulsive defense of Meteora. I have a feeling that decision will come back and bite her in the ass because Alice—at minimum—definitely won’t trust her again, and the truth of world changing won’t yield any comfort. Not sure how Gunpuku herself will react to Mamika’s choice, but anything which furthers the chaos probably has a big thumbs up on that front.

No matter the structural faults, at least we can guess what Re:Creators features next week: fighting, lots of it. Besides tying up the little Alice-Celestia disagreement, we also have to figure out how resident shark tooth fits into things, because with her taste for destruction, guaranteed it’s not listening to others. Then there’s Blitz who besides the badass aura–and Alucard-esque gun–is a total enigma story-wise. There’s lots of interesting bits left to explore, and we haven’t even touched on Souta’s hesitation in revealing Gunpuku’s origins. We may now know the basics of Re:Creators’ story, but the show definitely has yet to reveal all of its tricks. Stay tuned boys and girls, the fireworks are just getting started.

I’m not sure yet myself, it seems like a two stage spell where you first formulate a lie/something “unrealistic” (ex. Celestia impaling herself), and then have the target explicitly identify it as a lie. Once the target states it’s a lie, the lie becomes real as the store owner discovered (death by book, literally).

I’m also guessing Magane must be specific enough regarding the lie–either spoken or written/visualized–for it to materialize. The hound which she “created” for example was the page she wrote on. I bet if she didn’t have the note there something else would have appeared.

Seems similar in a sense to Lancer’s Noble Phantasm where cause and effect are reversed. Except that it is a lie turning into reality. Although it also seems that there needs to be some kind of trigger. Like in the case here she had to receive the Blow for it to happen to the other party

Well, it’s just as she said. Minus x minus = Plus.
For example:
She puts down a text that the creature from the page will attack shop owner (a lie – it’s just a picture in the book),
But, she knows that it will (under a certain condition ofc).
So when she asks if she is lying and shop owner says yes – it’s lie x lie = truth.

Best similarity I’ve seen so far is Danganronpa’s Genocider Syo, mostly for the looks (minus the tongue of course). Magane has a calculating, sinister vibe under that bouncy exterior and definitely isn’t letting onto how batsh*t crazy she actually is just yet.

The story line are bashing around without consensus direction and all the creation characters are just having their self proclaim perspective. For god sake, the loopholes for this episode are seriously huge on this one.

1) Meteora: is it sensible when want during the fight “let me get the permission 1st” instead of planning ahead what it lies?
2) Magane Chikujōin did kill people, thus the focus should be on her, why all sudden plot twist of unnecessary fight?
3) As given words among discussion, “we should not fight each other” but just the name of Justice, fight goes on..

I laughed out loud at Meteora asking for permission. Seriously, a couple of bridges were just destroyed, you’re fighting for your life, and you need permission to counter the threat? It was nonsensical, at that stage the damage is already done, the objective is to put the enemy down before the damage spreads farther (i.e. minimize it), which was their objective in the first place.

As for Magane, I don’t think the second fight was that big a problem. Meteora and Celestia want to minimize the creation-induced destruction, it makes sense they would attempt breaking up related fights. I’m guessing the plan was to originally apprehend Magane (given the murder), but Alice’s face off with her ruined the idea.

I laughed out loud at Meteora asking for permission. Seriously, a couple of bridges were just destroyed, you’re fighting for your life, and you need permission to counter the threat? It was nonsensical, at that stage the damage is already done, the objective is to put the enemy down before the damage spreads farther (i.e. minimize it), which was their objective in the first place.

AFAIK Meteora was asking permission to use the JSDF weapons that she stole and kept. before her encounter with SSCC boards, she tend to use the weapons as she she fits. But now that Kikuchihara has made her to promise to ask permission first before using it, Meteora chose to honor that promise and comply. Too bad she got blasted before she managed to make the call. That’s how JSDF work. They need permission from higher-ups before using their weapons. Since Selesia & Meteora’s search is not an official military operation, they can’t grant it quickly. Yeah, bureaucracy can be a bitch in Japan.

The real plot hole in this case is that Meteora should’ve asked that permission first before jumping into the scene. It could be because she didn’t think Alice & Blitz attacks pack that much wallop.

The real deal for the protagonist is they need to plan ahead while in the previous meeting with the JSDF. It not necessary to make them both involve in the fight but in such event it could be inevitable. Having a breakout without a fight will be very difficult, but it does not seem impossible if this thing does not goes through accordingly. To add on in such way, Meteora response of her facts are proven can be dangerous and trigger to Alice or Mamika.

Yuuya was said to be the rival and apparently the best friend of the main character. I’m guessing in his story he was antagonistic for one part of the story then ended up befriending the mc later down the road. Wouldn’t be the first time that formula has been used in anime.

Post episode interview facts:
- During auditions for Magane’s role, applicants were given a picture of her and told to provide a suitable voice. Most gave her a plain, slow tone. Sakamoto Maaya went for over-the-topness, and was thus chosen.
- Magane’s another talky character. Most of her planned lines had to be cut.
- Blitz can fly due to the antigravity device in his wristwatch (he’s a cyberpunk character).
- Hiroe Rei was hesitant about putting Magane in at first because he thought her word powers were too overpowered.

In Magane, I see a cross among Kotoha Isone and Ougi. Though she resembles more pike Ougi with her chaotic disregard to things around her when she gets ticked and Ougi herself has a sinister yet chaotic neutral trait.

Glad to see I wasn’t the only one who got Ougi vibes from her. Not a bad thing in my book.

Also, I would add Kurumi from Date A Live to the mix. Someone clever enough to fake being a normal high schooler and psycho enough to start killing people because she wants. And so confident in her powers that she would take a self-righteous knight templar armed with a big stick head on.

I´m not sure Kurumi is an aspect in Magane´s character, when you read the light novel you realize that Kurumi is nowhere as crazy as she apears to be at first and she does not kill people because she wants, in a sense Kurumi is one of the best examples you can have of knight templar and an anti-hero with a ton of cute and psycho on the top.

Magane on the other hand seems clever as hell but she is must definitely crazy as a psycothic goat! a really evil goat.

Still, when she was introduced, Kurumi was far more bloodthirsty, psychotic and faux affably evil. Her goals were a mystery, her methods involved mass killing and she found a great pleasure in tormenting others. She didn’t mellow until the events of her first arc, and her initial appearance echoes Magane’s here. After all, who is to say Magane doesn’t have a similar positive endgoal too?

In the end, it’s a matter of attitudes rather than goals and actions. No one argues the Ougi parallelisms, even if Ougi’s hands are cleaner than Magane’s and Kurumi’s by a very large margin.

Meteora shows up, starts preaching, and damn near sucks the air out of the room. Well, until the grizzled Blitz Tokar (great name) appears and literally puts her in her place.

So….trying to reason with your opponent to settle things peacefully instead of instantly going into bloody slug-fest that put lives on the line is now considered a problem for the story even though is a logical thing to do? My god.

No that’s not the problem, as you mention it’s the perfectly reasonable thing to do. The issue is that it’s Meteora doing the reasoning. Her talk with Alice was largely a continuation of her info dumping previously, where her ideas are inherently right and everyone else (i.e. Alice) is wrong, no counterarguments allowed. This was the sole reason I joked around with it, Meteora’s narrative role has been a huge area of discussion the past couple of weeks.

So Meteora is the Sherlock and Selesia is the Watson. I don’t see anything wrong with that. When Sherlock is verbally confronting a villain, Watson’s often role (if he’s around) is to be on guard to provide Sherlock with physical & offensive backup in case the villain goes violent.

her ideas are inherently right and everyone else (i.e. Alice) is wrong, no counterarguments allowed.

Meteora provided plenty of time for Alice to speak up and counterargue, but all that she said practically boils down to blind faith toward MUP. After that, it’s clear that there’s no logical meat in Alice’s counterargument (aside from the description of her world which sounds like Akame ga Kill on steroids) nor is there a room for negotiation. Oh, and it’s Alice who stopped the negotiation and attacked first.

> Her talk with Alice was largely a continuation of her info dumping previously, where her ideas are inherently right and everyone else (i.e. Alice) is wrong, no counterarguments allowed.

Yeah, her way of explaining things to Alicetaria made her explode. And that was without using her “I-don’t-have-any-evidence-but-the-world-is-going-to-end” card, which probably would only have made things worse.

I think that Blitz “put her in her place” in a more argumentative sense: sometimes, as he says, people won’t talk it out and there’s nothing you can do to change that. How do you convince others when they don’t want to be convinced? Are your arguments just not good enough? Are their goals too different from yours? Do feelings and personal interests override reasoning? Questions very commonplace nowadays.

Yeah, her way of explaining things to Alicetaria made her explode. And that was without using her “I-don’t-have-any-evidence-but-the-world-is-going-to-end” card, which probably would only have made things worse.

Nah. Alice already developed a blind faith toward MUP, and Meteora & Selesia found it out after they actually talked to her (& Mamika). And the fact that Alice got blue-balled by Selesia from killing Magane probably made her even more cranky :p

I think that Blitz “put her in her place” in a more argumentative sense: sometimes, as he says, people won’t talk it out and there’s nothing you can do to change that. How do you convince others when they don’t want to be convinced?

Mate, you just reversed the order of the events to suit your argument. Meteora found out that Alice won’t be swayed after she talked to her, not vice versa. Meteora didn’t know that Alice was this pigheaded before she talked to her. The moment Alice swung her lance to attack her, Meteora didn’t pursue the negotiation any longer and Bltz just came and started shooting. But Meteora’s effort to end things peacefully is still commendable. I mean, imagine if all negotiators in our world just give up the moment they see a tough customer. If that happened, humanity won’t live past the 1940s or 80s.

Oh, and guess who saved Meteora’s life this episode thanks partly to Meteora’s conversation with her? That’s right: Mamika! What a surprise! So, you see, good dialogues and conversations can actually make things better, just like in our world.

Also @ Pancakes
Why is my reply above still waiting for moderation when it doesn’t have anything improper or offensive in it? I answered your points there. Do I have to write it again?

Mate, you just reversed the order of the events to suit your argument.

And I see how you cut my quote short to suit your argument. I never meant that Meteora shouldn’t have tried talking first. As you say, that’s commendable. Poor Communication Kills, as Tv Tropes would put it. But I was pointing out another truth: the willingness to communicate is not enough. If you choose the wrong argument, the wrong person and/or the wrong time, all your efforts can be wasted. Just like in our world ;)

Until now, Deus Ex Meteora’s Talk No Jutsu swayed everyone, from fellow creations to the very Japanese government. Even Yuuya sat down to chat with her. This is the first time that her words failed her. Again, it doesn’t mean she shouldn’t try again, but it means that her initial attempt wasn’t good enough. At the end of the day, it was Meteora who insisted that they had to stop this kind of fights from happening. It was her who believed that cracks in the universe could appear otherwise. The moment the battle broke out, it was her loss, no matter the outcome of the fight.

And I see how you cut my quote short to suit your argument. I never meant that Meteora shouldn’t have tried talking first. As you say, that’s commendable. Poor Communication Kills , as Tv Tropes would put it. But I was pointing out another truth: the willingness to communicate is not enough. If you choose the wrong argument, the wrong person and/or the wrong time, all your efforts can be wasted. Just like in our world ;)

Poor communication? More like: Alice doesn’t want to hear any form of argument that’s against her goal. So I guess Alice is included in the “wrong person” category. Still, it works on Mamika, so…yay?

Until now, Deus Ex Meteora’s Talk No Jutsu swayed everyone, from fellow creations to the very Japanese government. Even Yuuya sat down to chat with her. This is the first time that her words failed her. Again, it doesn’t mean she shouldn’t try again, but it means that her initial attempt wasn’t good enough. At the end of the day, it was Meteora who insisted that they had to stop this kind of fights from happening. It was her who believed that cracks in the universe could appear otherwise. The moment the battle broke out, it was her loss, no matter the outcome of the fight.

Yep, it was her loss when it comes to character like Alice. It goes to show us all that Meteora is not as perfect and Deus Ex as many have accused her. She’s still fallible in many different aspects. She’s far from being a Rey.

So I guess Alice is included in the “wrong person” category. Still, it works on Mamika, so…yay?

Indeed. I would go as far as saying that Mamika was in the “right person” and “right moment” cathegories; in the last episodes we’ve seen how she fantasized about being friends with everyone and the doubts she had about the current situation. In that regard, she was the opposite of Alicetaria: she wanted to be convinced. If she changes sides in the upcoming episodes, it won’t be unbelieavble.

It goes to show us all that Meteora is not as perfect and Deus Ex as many have accused her. She’s still fallible in many different aspects. She’s far from being a Rey.

I agree. It was definitely a step in the right direction. That said, I still have reservations. Like Zen, I feel that they are sidelining her narrative issues rather than fixing them outright. But that’s still better than what we had in previous episodes and now I’m more hopeful about future developments.

As I’ve already said, with regard to this show’s most glaring flaws, this week solved nothing- Meteora remains an omniscient didact who’s right about everything. Blitz’s words to Mamika didn’t substantively address Meteora’s sermon against Alice’s selfish, ruthless philosophy. He just basically said that “you can’t always talk things out,” leaving Meteora’s refutations of Alice’s points entirely unchallenged. Though Meteora’s words failed to diffuse the situation, her points were right on the money; the audience was expected to buy it, and bystander Mamika was swayed. The essence of the omniscient didact is that she’s always right- regardless of whether she oozes hypnotic charisma, or if she’s some sort of prophet-martyr heeded by none. Omniscient didacts are lazy, contrived narrative omnitools designed to push the plot forward in the simplest, easiest, most inane manner possible. Until Re:Creator’s writers neuter Meteora’s ability to continue in her narrative role as an omniscient didact by explicitly making her sermons/lectures substantively fallible, I can’t say that they’ve made a move in the right direction, at least with regard to this show’s most significant flaws. And even so, it won’t fix the damage already done by the boring, un-immersive, overly didactic style of world-building from the previous 5 episodes…

@Zen
Funny. I don’t remember Gandalf received this harsh criticism for being mostly right about things and become one of the ultimate guides for the hero’s journey in TLOTR. That’s basically the role that Meteora plays in this show: a sage who gives direction to the heroes (and herself) to save the world through her wisdom, deduction and smart thinking. Like Gandalf, she might stumble during the journey and not all of her efforts will pay off, and there’s always the possibility that her theory about “fiction presence disturb the world balance” is wrong. Even if she’s not wrong, her role as the wise sage who is right most of the time doesn’t make her character bad.

Wow, I don’t even…is there an oversimplification bug going around or something? There is a HUGE difference. That’s because LOTR didn’t employ long-winded lectures from Gandalf as its primary means of world-building, whereas most of Re:Creators’ world-building related information has been conveyed exclusively through long, boring speeches from Meteora. Tolkien masterfully employed a mix of both first order illustrative methods and didactic means to convey LOTR’s world to his audience. This show? Not so much. Virtually everything we know about why the fictional characters are showing up, and what effects this might have on the world was conveyed purely didactically through Meteora. In LOTR, before Gandalf declares that Frodo’s ring is the “One Ring,” and conveys information about what the “One Ring” is, the ring’s peculiar nature had already been foreshadowed to us, through first order illustrative means- with Bilbo using it to disappear at his birthday party, and through its hypnotic influence on Bilbo. And if I remember correctly, it’s confirmed through first order illustrative means (by having fiery text appear when the ring is heated) that the ring Frodo inherited from Bilbo is indeed the One Ring contemporaneously with (or extremely close in time to) Gandalf’s verbal declaration that it is in fact the One Ring. And Gandalf was never portrayed as omniscient in the same vein as Meteora; the role of bestowing plot/world-building significant sagely wisdom to the main cast was distributed amongst numerous characters, of which Gandalf was but one (Galadriel, Elrond, Tom Bombadil, Saruman, etc.); he did not possess every answer. (Or even if he did know everything canonically, he was never given the appearance that he did.) Whereas in this respect, Meteora is Galadriel, Elrond, Tom Bombadil, Saruman and Gandalf all rolled into one, as she is Re:Creators’ sole sage.

The problem with Meteora as a character is that she’s being used as a lazy, contrived narrative device that I’ve decided to call the “omniscient didact”- an inane narrative implement that obviates the need to engage in any first order illustrative exposition/world-building, and the need to engineer a large cast of interesting characters with varied backgrounds (plausibly granting them access to specialized, plot/world-building significant knowledge). Meteora is written in such a manner as to allow Re:Creators’ writers to, in the most simplistic way possible, didactically present important plot/world-building significant information to the audience- no effort required. Which is ineffective because it is dull, and because it is not immersive, as I’ve explained ad nauseum. Conversely, as articulated above, Gandalf, though extremely wise and knowledgeable, was never used as a lazy, contrived expository shortcut. Any didactically presented exposition conducted through Gandalf was generally also conveyed through and supported by first order illustration, and he was not the omniscient, solitary source of didactically presented plot/world-building significant information- far from it. Gandalf wasn’t used as a lazy, contrived narrative omnitool to compensate for the writer’s sloth, or abject incompetence- yet this is exactly Meteora’s role in Re:Creators- therein lies the irrefutable, fundamental difference between the two…

Gandalf, though extremely wise and knowledgeable, was never used as a lazy, contrived expository shortcut. Any didactically presented exposition conducted through Gandalf was generally also conveyed through and supported by first order illustration, and he was not the omniscient, solitary source of didactically presented plot/world-building significant information- far from it. Gandalf wasn’t used as a lazy, contrived narrative omnitool to compensate for the writer’s sloth, or abject incompetence- yet this is exactly Meteora’s role in Re:Creators- therein lies the irrefutable, fundamental difference between the two…

You sure about that? Because I can recall many scenes in which Gandalf just downright stop and explaining things. Not only that, whenever he’s present, he’s pretty much the authority of the Fellowship. He decides what to do and what not to do. He’s also the one that the Fellowship mostly rely on when it comes to negotiations be it with elf or human authorities in their respective ‘jurisdiction’. Not to mention that in a number of occasions, LOTR has used Gandalf as the (convenient) cavalry to bring the protag groups out of desperate situations which is a complaint that a good number of LOTR fans have voiced. And don’t forget the glaring plot device named the Eagles which are part of Gandalf ‘arsenal’ whenever the situation needed them. You might as well replace those Eagles with big signs that said “narrative shortcut” or “Gandalf’s Deus Ex Machina”. The Eagles themselves are practically glaring flying plot holes. Why? Because if only Gandalf & co begged them to transport the Fellowship & the Ring (or just the Ring) to Mordor, the entire mission would’ve been accomplished in, what, half a day? without much bloodshed compared to what we actually got. Considering the stakes, I doubt the Eagles are going to refuse. I mean, they did help Gandalf & the Fellowship a couple times in the story. Thank god Meteora doesn’t have the equivalent of the Eagles that can break the story’s logic and rendered the heroes’ struggles into a one big joke if one watch/read it with a critical mind.

And Gandalf was never portrayed as omniscient in the same vein as Meteora; the role of bestowing plot/world-building significant sagely wisdom to the main cast was distributed amongst numerous characters, of which Gandalf was but one (Galadriel, Elrond, Tom Bombadil, Saruman, etc.); he did not possess every answer. (Or even if he did know everything canonically, he was never given the appearance that he did.) Whereas in this respect, Meteora is Galadriel, Elrond, Tom Bombadil, Saruman and Gandalf all rolled into one, as she is Re:Creators’ sole sage. he did not possess every answer. (Or even if he did know everything canonically, he was never given the appearance that he did.) Whereas in this respect, Meteora is Galadriel, Elrond, Tom Bombadil, Saruman and Gandalf all rolled into one, as she is Re:Creators’ sole sage.

In short, when it comes to Meteora, the above is your point of contention, right? Well, Meteora doesn’t have every answer from the get go either. There are other characters that posses the information that she needs. She asks around, does experiment and even plays her own game to find answers like a good scholar character should do. She’s certainly not as all-knowing as Gandalf. Also, even if Meteora took the roles of all those characters you mentioned and become this story’s sole sage, that’s not something that made R:C narratively irredeemable or as broken as you said because she earned some of the knowledge through effort. In fact, she puts more effort and action in gaining knowledge compared to other characters on her team. That’s actually a good moral for the audience: more (smart) effort can get you more (good) results.

And when it comes to word building, Meteora is not all-knowing. We just saw in episode 5 how Kikuchihara outdid Meteora when it comes to knowledge about how Japanese government works. We saw how SSCC gave us new information that never occurred to Meteora about the frequency, coverups and such. Meteora also doesn’t know much about the enemy, unlike Gandalf who is well aware of how Middle-Earth works, what Sauron & Saruman are, what they’re after and what they’re capable of.

Virtually everything we know about why the fictional characters are showing up, and what effects this might have on the world was conveyed purely didactically through Meteora. In LOTR, before Gandalf declares that Frodo’s ring is the “One Ring,” and conveys information about what the “One Ring” is, the ring’s peculiar nature had already been foreshadowed to us, through first order illustrative means- with Bilbo using it to disappear at his birthday party, and through its hypnotic influence on Bilbo. And if I remember correctly, it’s confirmed through first order illustrative means (by having fiery text appear when the ring is heated) that the ring Frodo inherited from Bilbo is indeed the One Ring contemporaneously with (or extremely close in time to) Gandalf’s verbal declaration that it is in fact the One Ring.

There’s also the fact that R:C is part mystery. So, instead of revealing to us how this incident began (like the Rings origin in LOTR), we mostly stick with Meteora & co to look for the answers for all the questions and gradually uncover the mystery about how can all this happened and what MUP goal(s) and methods are. Meteora’s role is also part-detective like Sherlock Holmes. Do you also have problems with uber-resourceful characters like Sherlock Holmes who is pretty much the major force who drives the story forward in each case other than the villains? How about his lengthy deduction and theorizing whenever he’s onto something? (which is not unlike Meteora).

Oh, also, things like ‘tedious’, ‘boring’, ‘dull’, etc are subjective. Adding them to your argument doesn’t mean much for those who feel differently.

People forget who Meteora is. She isn’t a character, she’s an NPC. Any gamer here would know what that means especially if you play MMOs. NPCs are there as a device purely to progress the plot or quest and provide any relevant information to the player, or in Meteora’s case, the audience.

It may be boring to watch for a few viewers, but in retrospect, it’s actually pretty genius. The annoyances some viewers have expressed with Meteora is exactly what I hear from gamers who don’t like reading quest texts. She is probably one of the most well written characters on the show purely because of her consistency with her “role”. Sure, it doesn’t make her the most interesting character, but whether intentional or not, her role is very consistent in universe.

Also need to think about what was written about her by her creator. How much of a character, role, or backstory was she given in her fiction? Unlike other characters who probably were very detailed in their respective media, Meteora is just an NPC. Maybe you’ll get a paragraph or few on who she is but it doesn’t nearly compare to a protagonist or an antagonist. Meteora is probably an ascended character who had a charm that clicked with the audience.

It would be nice if what I wrote was intentional by the creators or Re:Creators, and if they played on the strengths of such a character (or lack of). I doubt it though but I do like seeing all the angles and regardless of intent, Meteora’s character to me is very fitting considering the setting of the story.

Meteora’s role is also part-detective like Sherlock Holmes. Do you also have problems with uber-resourceful characters like Sherlock Holmes who is pretty much the major force who drives the story forward in each case other than the villains? How about his lengthy deduction and theorizing whenever he’s onto something? (which is not unlike Meteora).

As a huge fan of Sherlock Holmes, I must say that it’s actually the opposite.

In Conan Doyle’s stories, Sherlock Holmes rarely if ever spills the beans about the current case until all the pieces are assembled for the climax. A running gag (so to speak) is that Watson, the narrator and audience surrogate, is out of the loop because Holmes refuses to explain his theory until he’s sure of it. Usually, the mystery is double: who the criminal was and how Sherlock Holmes found it out.

Meanwhile, Meteora theorizes aloud and makes unusually detailed assumptions before she has a chance to present any evidence. Even if the mental process of Meteora’s and Holmes’ deductions is the same, what the audience sees is very different.

@Mistic
I’ve read Baskervilles and probably a couple other cases which IIRC there’s not much theory-explaining & deducting until near the end. But I’m more familiar with the screen adaptations from classic Basil Rathbone, great Peter Cushing, clueless Michael Caine, emotional Ian McKellen, bipolar Jeremy Brett, and the fan-favorite Cumberbatch. From my experience watching them, there are a number of instances where Sherlock just went on about his theories and deduction whether when he’s alone with Watson or when he’s talking with someone else (the current Sherlock TV series probably one of the most egregious AFAICR). Once Sherlock gets in the mood to talk, he’ll talk, and in length if necessary. I don’t know how that’s lined up with his actual portrayal in the novels though.

@Oby
I know, and I must admit I’m not keen on TV and film adaptations of the original material because of that (although not to “they ruined it forever!” levels XD). I understand that it’s due to the logical strengths and weaknesses of each medium.

The original Sherlock Holmes novels and short stories enjoy the first-person narration of Dr. Watson, who serves as the voice and eyes of the reader, but adaptations can’t use such focus the same way. Like it or not, they need (or they feel they need) to follow Holmes himself doing things… and the temptation to make him explain his steps for the benefit of the audience is there. How entertaining it can turn out depends a lot on the adaptation.

She might become an ace in the hole for Gunpuku, that demon is wild card that would create death and destruction wherever she goes, perfect for her insane plan! Theere is no need to control her, just setting her loose in the world is enough.

That maybe so, but like Yuuya, she won’t be controlled by either side. Which means her ego might turn her against either side any time she pleases. I’d say the playing field has never been more balanced. We have her and Yuuya not on either side, 3 players on the good side, 3 on the bad side, and one that isn’t sure anymore and wants to make sense of what’s going on (Mamika). This is where the conflict really starts.

Man, the power balance went all out of whack with this episode. Meteora seemingly left herself toothless as a result of the negotiations with the government and Kanoya simply refuses to fight, leaving Celestia (who granted I certainly am okay with picking for my team) by and large alone to fend off Alice and Blitz if not Magane and/or Mamika as well. Unless Mamika actually does a full heel turn and changes sides, I’m thinking Yuya’s going to need to show up again soon just to give the heroes a fighting chance. XD

Also, more than anything else I’m getting major Outlaw Star vibes from Blitz. The gravity bullet just sealed the deal.

Overall I like the way this episode as it shows there’s more depth to the character’s and they’re fractious (esp gunpuk/altair side).

I give Souya a pass for now as that sudden realization that you are a co-creator of the antagonist is not something you just blurt out. Him being uncomfortable around Celestia due to that is quite natural. (I’d prolly stew on it for a couple hours if placed in a similar situation)

I give Souya a pass for now as that sudden realization that you are a co-creator of the antagonist is not something you just blurt out.

I’m not sure I’d give him the same free pass. Ok, anxiety can be a great obstacle, so a temporary shock is not strange. But understandable doesn’t mean acceptable. Our high schooler is in the “we believe that the world may end if we don’t put an end to this quickly” team. He knows what the stakes are (or are supposed to be).

Not spilling the beans is dangerous for both him and the rest of the world. He has no good reason to stay silent, for both the villain and the government already know who he is and where they can find him. He’s putting everyone at danger, including himself.

If Re:Creators keeps this up, the previous episodes become more of an annoying speedbump than defining feature.

I respectfully disagree. As I articulated previously, Re:Creators’ most significant issue is not the overuse of Meteora relative to other characters, nor that she is arguably some sort of Mary Sue (though these are indeed problems, they are relatively minor in the whole scheme of things). Re:Creators’ most damning flaws are instead Meteora’s narrative role as an overly convenient, contrived, lazy expository omnitool- which leads into and enables this show’s second major flaw, the use of a nigh purely didactic approach to world-building related exposition, by obviating the need for any and all illustrative world-building related exposition- where a more illustratively heavy hybrid method would be far more effective.

Short of total nullification of Meteora’s role as a lazy, overly convenient expository omintool, and total, or near total nullification of all inane didactic world-building related exposition presented through Meteora (through something like Mistic’s “Meteora was actually a lying villain” example), the fact that Re:Creators spent five whole episodes building its world in an extremely boring and un-immersive manner through the use of an omniscient didact as a lazy, contrived narrative omnitool shall ever remain a black mark against the it…

As elaborate as your explanation is, you’re still implying the same thing pancakes was about the prior eps being speedbumps on the road. Issues of the storytelling go back to the use of meteora. If she is used more effectively (amongst other things in the narrative), quite a few of the flaws of this series would be rectified; hence, the prior eps would have just been a few speed bumps on the road

If she is used more effectively (amongst other things in the narrative), quite a few of the flaws of this series would be rectified…

You’re oversimplifying things. I think Pancakes and I concur that more effective future use of Meteora would be able to fix most of this show’s problems- but we diverge on what we think that future use must entail. He seems to be of the opinion that most problems can be remedied by having certain characters disagree with Meteora, and by making Meteora a poor fighter- because this demonstrates that she is not an omnipotent Mary Sue or something, and because it allows other characters to take the spotlight in combat. All in all, I don’t think the solutions he proffered cure anything. Meteora’s main problem was never omnipotence, it was omniscience- and everything she says was and remains gospel truth- that Alice happened to disagree with her this week is of no consequence; Meteora was preaching to the audience as much as she was preaching to Alice, and I can tell you the writers fully expected the audience to accept everything she said. Though she couldn’t sway Alice, I don’t think we can deny that her words played a significant role in convincing bystander Mamika. Plus, none of the solutions proffered by Pancakes can change the fact that this show has spent 5 episodes building its world in an almost exclusively didactic fashion- which is boring and un-immersive; in order to relive that problem, Re:Creators will have to skillfully scrap all of that previous trash tier world-building and start again from scratch- certainly possible, but by my estimations a tall order that’s nigh on impossible to execute competently…

But the things that pancakes suggested DOES remedy some of the problems with the show. Im in agreeance that one of the major issues with her character is her omniscience (which some may argue that she is based on a character meant to be seemingly omniscient due to her affinity with books); but you’re so focused on the conceit of meteora’s existence in re:creators being a problem and suggesting more involved solutions to the problem she causes for the show’s narrative flow, that you’re overlooking the simple fact that if the show focused on her less and more on the other characters who arent as toxic, then the problems meteora is riddled with wont have the chance to infest the narrative as much. If more eps continued to focus on other character dynamics and left meteora in the background, the problems she causes will be diluted.

Now sure you can argue that this is a first-order solution rather than a second-order one, but it still mediates the issue nevertheless. You’re saying it doesnt remedy the problem at all and im arguing that it does to some degree, it just doesnt actually fix the issue. I do agree that having character disagree with meteora means nothing if the audience is meant to think meteora is in the right; however, i was under the impression pancakes was elucidating the argumentative nature of Alice and meteora’s conversation because it actually made it feel a bit more like a conversation. Meteora’s monologuing now felt a bit more like a conversation (even if it still was a bit heavy-handed). and that’s a good thing because it provided opportunities for meteora to question herself and her ideas like a fully realized character should.

What one ultimately thinks about Re:Creators’ beginning (speedbump or irrevocable error) will largely come down to personal preference IMO. So long as Meteora is better handled as a character going forward, I personally do not have any more glaring issues (at least currently). I fully concur the beginning could have been handled significantly better with a different expository method, but alone it’s not enough for me to see the whole show in a negative light.

I think ultimately it just comes down to the difference in our approaches to evaluating the show. I’m coming from a critical perspective, where I’m trying to rate this show’s quality relative to that of others. Whereas you’re probably just evaluating the show in terms enjoyment, so long as the error is not so egregious that it irredeemably destroys your ability to enjoy it, it is forgivable. Whereas from a critical perspective, there are no speedbumps- every “hiccup” is a almost always a permanent point deduction, marking the work in question as inferior in some way to others.

I’m not saying Re:Creators is the worst show on air this season- because it’s not. But it’s lost enough points thus far for me to rate it as an extremely mediocre show, at least insofar as its writing is concerned. (It has fabulous sound effects and above-average animation, but my critique is purely of its narrative). Whether my rating of its narrative sinks even lower, relegating it to trash tier status, or if it’s able to improve its standings, depends on what the writers do from here on out. They have a lot of time to do it, relative to other shows, so I wish them all the best…

I think you’ve identified the difference. Right now my primary concern is entertainment. Is the show fun to talk about? Am I looking forward to it? Is there enough material to discuss? If those points are met, I’m usually happy. It does not mean I do not identify problems, but unless they interfere significantly with the show’s “feel”, I usually leave them be beyond a quick mention.

Of course I could go further and critically analyze as you have Zen–and very likely produce similar arguments–but then my posts would become cynical and overly negative, something a lot of us–particularly Stilts–like to avoid. If I had a job here it’s keeping the episode fun, giving some jumping off points for discussion, and encouraging those curious to give the show a try. If I think a show deserves some harsh criticism, I try and reserve it to retroactive analysis in end posts/final impressions for this reason.

—- “People forget who Meteora is. She isn’t a character, she’s an NPC. Any gamer here would know what that means especially if you play MMOs. NPCs are there as a device purely to progress the plot or quest and provide any relevant information to the player, or in Meteora’s case, the audience.
It may be boring to watch for a few viewers, but in retrospect, it’s actually pretty genius. The annoyances some viewers have expressed with Meteora is exactly what I hear from gamers who don’t like reading quest texts. She is probably one of the most well written characters on the show purely because of her consistency with her “role”. Sure, it doesn’t make her the most interesting character, but whether intentional or not, her role is very consistent in universe.
Also need to think about what was written about her by her creator. How much of a character, role, or backstory was she given in her fiction? Unlike other characters who probably were very detailed in their respective media, Meteora is just an NPC. Maybe you’ll get a paragraph or few on who she is but it doesn’t nearly compare to a protagonist or an antagonist. Meteora is probably an ascended character who had a charm that clicked with the audience.
It would be nice if what I wrote was intentional by the creators or Re:Creators, and if they played on the strengths of such a character (or lack of). I doubt it though but I do like seeing all the angles and regardless of intent, Meteora’s character to me is very fitting considering the setting of the story.”

THANK YOU FOR POINTING THIS ONE MY FRIEND! YESS AND YESS AND YESS!

I’ve talked to one of my friends about how talkative Meteora was for the past four episodes, and when i told him “her words are meant to convinced both human and creations. Shes like their guide. She not the hero of her story, and cannot even fight. Why is she even there?” And it hit me when he said shes an NPC, that what she does in the game. And why yes!

SO THANK YOU FOR POINTING THIS OUT AGAIN DUDE! People have been bashing her merciless but they forgot what she is originally. And it occured to me again when she commented how detailed Celestia is written by her creator that she is capable to argue with people; i didnt realize what she meant by that. But when we look back to ep.2, she is an NPC and of course, i hope thats not all about her.

Anyone else get the feeling that someone in the writing room is in love with Urobochi? All these characters seem like stand ins from his works, especially Fate/Zero.

Magane is going to create some chaos. Not only because the book she took was called “Inhabitants of Chthullu”. The creature she summoned was the Hound of Tidalos. Just wait till she summon Azathoth.

She is definitely awesome so far and I think she will have a nicer side. Mostly because the opening showed her alongside other school girls and also part of an organization. Though going by the op, she will at least side for some time with team Altair. I wonder how she is going to interact with Alice and Mamika and with whom she will clash more. It would be interesting if she actually managed to change Alice perspective somewhat. That conversation reminded me a bit of the one between Gilgamesh and Kirei from Fate/Zero.

Celestia was definitely being a belle in this episode but I’d say 3 things stood out for me.

http://randomc.net/image/Re%20Creators/Re%20Creators%20-%2006%20-%20Large%2020.jpg
We have Caster Ougi making an appearance. I’d say she’s the chaotic character in the show though I’m not sure whether she’s the chaotic neutral, good or evil. The book shop scene is a definite throw back to Caster’s summoning in Fate Zero although FateZero’s Cthulthu scene was blood curdling. The screams, joint severing and bone crushing sounds, I’d say that Re;Creators toned it down. By a lot. Though the thing that stands out most about her is her actions at the river bank and also the fight scene itself. So much sass. Just like Ougi, she can be rather detached or talks directly to the point without mincing her words.

http://randomc.net/image/Re%20Creators/Re%20Creators%20-%2006%20-%20Large%2024.jpg
Here we have Sir Akemi Homura slowly breaking down. From her world’s description, it really took a toll on her so much so that she’s willing to do anything and everything. Even if that means repeating the time loop and each time letting Kaname Madoka getting exponentially stronger yet at the same time, repeatedly having to see her to turn into a being that’s far more powerful and higher than Walpurgis Nacht.

http://randomc.net/image/Re%20Creators/Re%20Creators%20-%2006%20-%20Large%2023.jpg
And lastly we have Kaname Madoka. That sweet, wide eyed and positive mahou shoujo that everyone loves and adores. Its only a matter of time before Madoka breaks. IF she does not, she’ll definitely turn disenfranchised with reality up to the point where her soul gem sits on the knife’s edge of being a mahou shoujo or a witch. Right now, she’s at the crossroads of things. If she stays on with Homura, she’ll go deeper into the rabbit hole. If she goes over, she’ll have to fight Homura each time she sees her and that’s equally bad and mind wrecking for her as well.

Yes! This was what I was looking for. Characters introduced with their actions (hello there, magical psycho Not!Ougi) and not with tiresome exposition. Meteora failing at her Talk no Jutsu. Battles and chaos, lots of chaos.

Did I say chaos?

Honestly, I must admit I don’t see which turn the story may take. From the promos, I expected that the teams would be Selesia, Meteora, Yuuya and Rui versus Gunpuku, Alice, Mamika, Blitz and Magane. Likely, there would be a Heel-Face turn or an attempt at it in the future, but later rather than sooner. However, the introduction of Magane has been like a nuke. She’s so villainous that Alice didn’t want her in their team and had to be defended by our heroes. And now Mamika is protecting Meteora against Blitz.

Will the story make another turn to follow those previous expectations? Or are the sides going to get muddled? At this point, I wouldn’t mind if Magane joined our heroes’ ranks for extra chaos.

Blitz Tokar is the most dangerous of the characters so far, yes even worse than Magane, our resident Omnicidal Maniac sorcerer serial killer in my opinion. He acted all calm and philosophical at first, only trying to kill the other becuase it would be dangerous to let them bite back but then he showed that slasher smile, that guy is enjoying all this conflict, there is some serious blood lust hiding behind that smile.

I’m not sure if he has blood lust yet, overall–ignoring the smile–it looks more like a cold and hardened view of the world. Given the guy is a cyberpunk bounty hunter, I expect he’s seen a few disturbing things and experienced the worst excesses of society, so it’s more likely he wants the potential peace and stability Gunpuku’s plan offers IMO. I could easily be wrong though, who knows :P

I hope I´m wrong, there is enough trouble as it is with Magane running killing anyone who catches her attention. Man, I can´t shake off the feeling that no matter what either side do Gunpuku will win anyone thank to all the destruction theis battles are causing.

Desperation can transform the best heroes into mosnters and Alice is making good on this promise as I predicted in the previous posts. I just hope she can see light before is too late, Mamika most likely will be a factopr to play in this but Alice´s strong sense justice can be a horrifying curse when infected with desperation, as Pancakes-san said the trurth will hit her like a meteor.

True. I even feel that discovering that the “gods” can’t change her world could make Alice jump off the slippery slope rather than the opposite.

Imagine her point of view: her world is a hellish hole created so people can have fun at their expense. All their pain, all the injustice is just entertainment for the gods. Now she has an opportunity to change that. But if it’s impossible, if her world is a lost cause, why should she care about saving the world of the creators? The temptation to let the uncaring gods burn might be too strong.

It gets worse, Gunpuku´s master plan could destroy Alice´s world as well, the fact she might be the end of the world she´s trying so desperately to save might be too much for her mind, seriouly this could go very bad for her if Mamika doesn´t play her cards right.

I would be intrigued if Alice went the crazy route, it’s not what you expect from her character type. Still not sure if it’s a possibility though, Alice’s enjoyment of time with Mamika the past two weeks show a hint of adoration for her “new” world. I wouldn’t be surprised if at that time she hesitates at thought of destroying everything, it goes against everything she holds dear.

I would like to know how the characters are listed on the Japanese Official site.

I have read about people stating they were dropping the show because they think Souta is the main character and because he’s not acting like the main character and thus uninteresting. I have seen and commented on other posts assuming Souta is the main character.

Sources differ a fair bit some stating Souta as main character others like Anime List has nine characters listed as main including Souta which fits the ensemble cast I have felt the story is so far with no one main. Cannot read Japanese but official site seams same as Anime List with all characters listed with no differentiation, Souta listed first but that is a standard method in Hollywood of listing by order of appearance which has no indication of main status.

If Souta is the main character he has not yet assumed the role of a main character yet and I don’t know how you make him main when there is no reason the other characters would put him in charge as he is younger with no dominating talent. A member of the ensemble fits best he is not even in the climax of the episode

You’re saying it doesnt remedy the problem at all and im arguing that it does to some degree, it just doesnt actually fix the issue.

I think I was unclear, and I apologize. I’m sorry, but it really does nothing to fix the Re:Creators’ two most significant problems- Meteora’s status as an omniscient didact, and weak overly didactic world-building. Most of the damage is already done with regard to weak world-building, and can only be fixed by direct nullification.

And Meteora’s still an omniscient didact- a lazy, contrived narrative omnitool of a character. Sidelining her, as you said, helps to prevent her toxic nature from infesting other aspects of the show, perpetuating and creating other peripheral issues going forward- but this is just a stop-gap- not a cure. The main problem is that she remains a poorly written, contrived narrative device of a character; this has not been fixed.

As a critic, I’ve deducted significant points from the show for its weak world-building, and for the way it’s written Meteora. It won’t be able to get these points back from me unless it nullifies its weak world-building and somehow morphs Meteora into a better character who isn’t an omniscient didact. When I say nothing’s fixed, I mean that the show doesn’t get any points back from me for what it did this week, though what it did does may help prevent future point deductions…

How would you nullify Meteora’s previous role as the author’s infodump? I know I suggested the “she was evil all along and manipulated the characters” theory, but there has to be more than one way of doing it.

Another possibility is turning it all into an elaborate ruse by moving the endgame goalpost. Make Meteora a tragic zealot of sorts, whose unwavering faith in her own erroneous theories plays right into the plans of an invisible (evil) puppeteer. The continued presence fictional characters in the real world does not in fact destabilize reality as presumed by Meteora, but has the potential of inducing some other deleterious effect, desired by the vile invisible puppeteer. Unbeknownst to Meteora, the actions of her friends and the Japanese government, under the presumption that her theories are accurate, serve only to enable the puppeteer’s plans. (I don’t know, he’s having these fictional characters fight and kill each other so that he can acquire exotic matter/materials from their corpses and data, to find a way bring hordes of fictional characters into the real world all at once and turn them into a mind controlled army of super soldiers, or something). Allude to this subtly from here on out with first-order experiential illustration.

Though quite frankly, I think it would be extremely difficult to nullify Meteora’s previous role as the author’s infodump without exacerbating things by making it all look like an a**pull retcon. Possible, but not without careful, methodical planning, something I don’t think Re:Creators’ writers have the time for on a tight weekly schedule. But it’s their own damn fault. They dug themselves in too deep with the whole omniscient didact thing.

If they try doing what you suggested, turning Meteora in a villain, amidst a legion of other problems, it’s going to be really difficult to dispense with all that prior character development she’s had establishing her as a good-natured individual and not have it look extremely jarring. And if they try to go with my plan, one major problem will be that there has been no prior allusion to the existence of an unseen puppeteer; having him just appear out of thin air is just going to make it look like an a**pull retcon. I honestly think that Re:Creators’ writers are for all practical intents and purposes, stuck with the bed they’ve made- and they’re going to have to lie in it…

Perhaps there’s a chance for that. Not from a mysterious third party, but from Gunpuku herself?

I notice that every idea the creations have about their possibilities in the real world comes from the MUP. Her words move Alice to believe that her world can be changed, and led Meteora to try experimenting with Selesia’s creator. Meteora’s ‘Apocalypse Now’ theory also comes from a miraculously detailed inference of Gunpuku’s words and goals. What if Meteora, thinking she has seen through Gunpuku’s plans, has instead played right into her hands?

I also notice that despite her plans and lies theoretically being in the open (from the audience’s point of view), Gunpuku’s appearances are few and she’s as vague and cryptic as always. She could surprise everyone with a “everything is proceeding as I have foreseen” moment. It could work as Souta’s chance to shine: his insight into Gunpuku’s character could reach what Meteora couldn’t see and provide the clue about her real plans. Preferably when everything seems lost and Meteora is suffering a BSOD. Two birds, one stone.

Very clever, Mistic. While I would hesitate to declare that such an approach would be free of any complications conferred by previously established incongruous plot plots, it certainly significantly lowers the bar for successful execution by maximizing consistency with the present narrative landscape.

quick rundown of my impressions, by character:
Meteora – someone shut, erm, shot her down. She was first completely unable to reach Alice who is the epitome of Knight Templar, unwilling to hear reason even while claiming moral superiority. Then Blitz shows that he is quite the combat pragmatist, first quickly finding the right round for the target, then follows up with “finish them to save yourself trouble later”. This of course triggers Mamika sense of justice and makes her intervene. She might end up changing sides if that continues, since she is actually willing to listen and talk.
Last but not least our shark-grinned psycho logic-wielder Magane is definitely bringing on lots of wicked fun into the show. Her powers seem to work on the rule of double-falsehood becoming truth. However, more than her powers it is her attitude that seems to be most useful for MUP (short for Military Uniform Princess). She seems to revel in chaos, destruction and killing, making her perfect tool for bringing about the collapse of the world and its laws. On the other hand she is probably least vulnerable to MUP trying to control her, since she would never fall for the honeyed lies about “making things right”. She might actually love to watch multiverse burn, but she would do it for herself alone. Or she might decide that her own hide is at stake and oppose MUP in an unlikely alliance with our “main heroes”.

Aliceteria is pretty much Saber but with the major difference that there is no Shirou to make her realize that there are things that cannot be change and that you deserve to be happy even after all that. This is crucial, fate/zero gave us insight in how desperate Saber truly was to change the past and save her people, even when her actions as King were for the best at the end, without a morality pet liek Shrirou (more like a true love) to remind her that the end does not justify the means Saber´s tale would have ended like a horror story or worse, and consodering what what good old Gil had in store for the King of Knights maybe worse doesn´t even beging to describe it.

Bottom line, take Mamika out of Alice´s equation and you have a disaster of epic proportions in the making.

I find it humorous how it is insinuated that the Mahoushoujo is in fact the one carrying the “Biggest Guns” of all of the summoned characters so far. It’s an ingeneous play at how these types of characters are actually ridiculously over powered.

Mamijou somehow redeemed in this episode. And im somehow surprised how she surprised me this week! Im now rather Mamika remains in the neutral side for now and joins Rui and ignore the whole commotions. Heck i even willing to pay to see that happen!

Alice and Celestia are on it! Clashes between two bae knights! My fill is full <3

Alicetaria is the classic “big-boned blonde” from Scandinavian stock who is also the classic “never listens to anybody” Dungeons & Dragons “bad” paladin. Alicetaria thinks she is Lawful Good, she has the disappearing mount under D&D 3.0, but her actions are “my way or the highway”, and “those who are not for me are against me”. The paladin who becomes a loner because no one else in the party can stand her, even with her stunning beauty.

When the other people tell her that her world is just a fiction, that she is a Creation, it breaks her world-view that all she has done to drive away the invading demons and save the innocent in her world doesn’t matter. Alicetaria would coerce or intimidate an entire football stadium of people if it meant her world could be saved and turned into a pastoral paradise again. Of course, that’s not going to happen, even in real life.

While watching this episode, something kept nagging at me. What if Meteora’s theory was completely wrong? While laying the facts out to Alice, I noticed that she really can’t say that Alice’s wish was impossible. She couldn’t even say that her method in getting her objective is wrong, well, they weren’t in a position to compare notes. But they were talking more about morality than technical matters.

The one who probably knows more about this is Gunpuku. She’s the one bringing characters out of the world of fiction. She’s also the one that Alice has direct access to. Considering she also has met her creator, I don’t think Meteora’s words give her any reason to think it has more merit.

Is it me or i was really freaking out during this part, thinking this anime gonna grant our wish killing Meteora off considering how many angry comments about her last week. Good Lord Mamika came in and save the day! Even if y'all dont like how godly Meteora's preaching is every time she opens her mouth, i dont think i want anything bad happen to her. Just look at how that cute nerd apologizing to Celestia for not able to do anything, just makes me wanna hug her and say, its ok, nerds are frail…thats why they are nerds; just hold your bible and do some research.